Carolyn Stockdale   At 8.20am every day, a woman with church hair climbs astride a bicycle. Not an ordinary bicycle, but a strange, fold-up contraption, built for the commuter of the 1980s to whip from a raincoat at London Bridge and zip over cobbles to the Strand. It labours heavily now through the leaves, its […]

Amanda Staples   Joe bowed his head. He would not let Mr Collins see the tears that were pooling in his eyes. ‘Joseph,’ Mr Collins prompted. The headmaster waited, then gave an exasperated sigh. ‘You leave me no other option. You understand I cannot tolerate aggressive behaviour. I do not issue suspensions lightly, but all […]

Nial Giacomelli   And then there stood Hristo, eclipsing the doorway of our small classroom late one semester. He stood pale and thin, his hair combed into a greasy centre parting, a leather jacket hanging from his slender frame in a way that made him look sickly, victim to some wasting disease. He was a […]

Matthew John Fletcher   The window was open just enough to let in the cool night air. ‘Bring me seed.’ ‘Make me blossom.’ ‘Fly to me along a moonbeam, oh thou winged marauder of the night.’ The figure on the bed cast off a duvet and emitted a moan – it was unclear whether of […]

Amanda Staples   I pull my long black woollen coat around me. Lennon lies quietly at my feet, the cold air teasing his fur. My sister told me it was disrespectful to take a dog to a funeral. I didn’t see why. It’s a woodland funeral. Dad’s in a wicker coffin. She didn’t like that […]

Carolyn Stockdale lives in West Lancashire with her husband and three sons. She has a BA in English and Philosophy from the University of Liverpool and worked as a company secretary in both London and the North West, before starting an MA in Creative Writing at Edge Hill University, where she is also intern for […]

Matthew John Fletcher is a British writer, currently working on his first novel. His short fiction has been published in STORGY, Horla, The Fiction Pool and The First Line. As an undergraduate he studied English and German Literature, but has tried not to let this deter him from putting pen to paper, or rather, fingers […]

Amanda has the usual pile of stuff she can’t look at without a pot of tea and a whisky chaser, but keeps it to remind her that writing is a process; there is always much to learn and improve upon. Amanda hones her craft by dabbling in poetry, limericks and flash fiction, and more seriously […]

Fiona Murphy McCormack is a writer from Northern Ireland. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Queen’s University Belfast and a BA in Creative Writing and English from Glyndwr University, Wrexham, Wales. She won a scholarship for the John Hewitt International Poetry School in 2017, and a Young Writer Delegate placement at the International […]

Christopher Farris is a former U.S. Army officer, former corporate executive and current father of four and grandfather of one. He has lived and travelled widely through both his father’s military affiliation (U.S. Navy) and his own career. Now that he has the time and retains a modicum of energy, Chris has decided to focus […]